Reuters reveals key news on U.S. use of coronavirus treatment

Reuters broke the news that U.S. President Donald Trump personally pressed federal health officials in mid-March to make malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine available to treat the coronavirus, though they had been untested for COVID-19. Shortly afterward, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published highly unusual guidance informing doctors they had the option to prescribe the drugs, with key dosing information based on unattributed anecdotes rather than peer-reviewed science. Three days after the Reuters report was published, the CDC removed the original guidance from its website. Reuters also revealed how doctors have embraced hydroxychloroquine within a matter of weeks, becoming a standard of care in areas of the U.S. hit hard by the pandemic – though doctors prescribing it have no idea whether it works.